A method and an apparatus for performing verification using a shared key are disclosed. The method includes: receiving, by a first network element, a registration request message from a second network element, where the registration request message includes a user identifier, first network identifier information, and second network identifier information, the second network identifier information is obtained by processing the first network identifier information by using a shared key, and the shared key is a key used between the first network element and the second network element; verifying, by the first network element, the registration request message by using the shared key; and sending, by the first network element, a registration response message to the second network element. When receiving a registration request from a visited network, a home network verifies the registration request message by using a shared key, to avoid a spoofing attack from the visited network.